Market segmentation means providing markets with differentiated products or services such that substantial price difference may prevail between different segments. For instance, presently most economical mobile phones may cost 5 percent of the price of the high-end mobile phones. This allows both establishing wide markets ranging from entry level customers to heavy users who can afford more. However, until recently there has not been corresponding segmentation for the network access. Recently new mobility solutions embodying the concept of giving subscribers choices of different service levels have been presented. With such concept, an economy subscription to a mobile telecommunications network can have lower call tariffs with a somewhat higher probability of blocked or dropped calls during busy hours. A business subscriber will enjoy very high call success rates but also pay a higher tariff. In effect, this concept provides subscriber segmentation in mobile networks—offering different subscriber classes different products with corresponding price levels. This concept has been well received on developing markets because it allows addressing the not yet subscribers with very attractive tariffs. Entry level subscribers appreciate lower tariffs and accept lowered service quality. However, it may be found excessively undesirable if the lower service level can prevent placing an important and urgent personal call. After all, one of the key benefits of having a mobile phone is that often one can call friends or relatives in urgency.
It should be borne in mind that cellular networks are not always reachable and thus even though they can save lives, there may be occasions in which the network or necessary network resources are not available and therefore mobile operators cannot guarantee the access to their networks nor can they be held liable for possible failure to access their networks. Thus, even when in urgency, the mobile telephone may not be able to make desired phone calls due to network congestions or radio access failure. Emergency calls may be prioritized over all other calls to reduce the risk that congestion would prevent calling an ambulance or fire engine, for example, but even these calls cannot be guaranteed.
The most typical segmentation approach in telecommunication network subscriptions relates to the services availed to subscribers. It is broadly accepted that different data and messaging services can be charged with charges depending on the value of those services to the customer and on the availability of resources required for these services. However, even in industrial countries the telecommunications network operators still gain most of their revenues from traditional voice communication and text messaging. Hence, there is a need to provide segmentation in telecommunication network access which would avoid and/or mitigate the problems associated with the present solutions.